Mumbai Feb CP...countdown

Medicals at Lilavati

Recommend the place very highly. Very smooth process. Very professional and courteous staff. Manish does an excellent job of co-ordinating all the steps.

Reached the place by 8:00 am in spite of being up since 4 am (thanks to my 8 months old son). It was hard to time the journey since we were coming from our relatives place in Mulund. Manish had opened up shop by 7:50 am, most people were done with the forms by the time we got there. Someone made a posting that in spite of Lilavati asking you to show up at 7:45 am, there is no activity till 8 am. I guess that one didn\'t help. I would recommend getting there at least 15 minutes before 8 am, so that you can get out of the place sooner.

There were 3 other families/couples for the medicals, including one that I knew back from college days. That made the wait lot easier since we were catching up during most of the waits. Met 098765 and another nice family from Mulund. My son turned on the charm by going into his "cute baby" mode and got everybody in the room smiling at him.

Since we were the last ones to arrive, we got at the tail end of the process. Documents submitted:
1. Completed forms supplied by the hospital
2. Passports (got them right back)
3. 2 passport size photos (no particular format required)
4. Immunization records

X-rays were completed by 9:30 am followed by blood test at about 10:15. We waited in the room till almost noon for the physical exam. This would have been a good time to go get something to eat, but since were not sure of the wait time, we missed the boat. We did carry proof of immunizations from the U.S. and they gladly accepted it. So there was no need to take the shots again, and we were out by 12:15 pm.

We were told that there were some technical problems due to which reports would not be given out in the evening, but the next day. This was the only small negative, but since the process was so smooth, I didn\'t mind the extra trip.

After lunch, we proceeded to My Own Studio near the consulate in the afternoon. Got them the next evening. Seemed like they take pictures in the same INS style as in the U.S - 3/4ths turned face, etc. Still, the consulate rejects all other photos except this studio and the one inside the consulate. Interesting...
 
entered US yesterday

Flew in to Detroit...too many flights and too many people. no matter what detroit does to the airport, it can never get better. the worst airport ever. long lines and no carts and long walks between gates and what not. i hope the architect of the new Worldgate had to fly through detroit\'s old terminals before he designed this LOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG airport.

anyway, stood in visitor\'s line gave right index finger print and left. passports were stamped with 1 yr temp GC. except delays, no hassle.
 
What next after 1 year stamping of temp GC

I would like to know what is the next process after you get stamped for 1 year. When can we expect the plastic card ? when can we travel to india again ? If we travel after 10 months and without plastci card and if you return after 3 months do i need to go to consulate again ?
 
Entered US today

POE Boston. Very smooth. Hardly any wait. I reported at the Red Lane titled "US citizens and Lawful Permanent Residents". The immigration officer opened up the packet and took me to a room and asked me to wait. 5 minutes later another officer called my name. I was asked to sign on 2 places and the index fingerprint was taken adjacent to the signatures. I have probably never signed so badly in my life - I was too excited and nervous at the same time. She never asked me for the X-ray. When I offered it to her, she told me that they have stopped collecting them and just asked me to hold on to it.

Does anyone else have similar experiences with the X-ray?
 
X-rays are useless requirements by the consulate

I wonder why they even ask us to carry X-rays around. as long as the doctor sees it and puts the remarks on our medical reports, i guess that should be fine. anyway i didn\'t bother to even ask the officer about the X-ray. also, i found out that people doing AOS submit their entire fingerprints (all 10 prints) whereas CPers give only 1 print. isn\'t that a discrepancy? CP really rocks....
 
mm123 and others please help !!

This may seem out of context but I thought I would draw from you all\'s vast and sucessful experience.

My wife came here in Dec 2000 on H4 which was expiring in like 5 months (when my H1 was expiring). In Dec 2000 itself I changed job and we applied for her H4 extension (which came as expiring in May, 2003) as well as H1 (ofcourse thru an employer which expires some time in 2004). After we got H1 we applied for her SSN. But to date not a single payroll has been run for her.

My questions :

1) What status is she in? And what should I fill in all the forms that I would be filling for CP?
2) Can we save her H1 till we get GC (we might still be 5 months away from it) so that in case she finds a project she can use H1?

Thanks for your help and I know its really a long post.

BladeRunner
 
You must relinquish one...doesn\'t matter which one. Caution...

that your wife doesn\'t fall out of status at any time. If I understand the chronology, it is something like:

1) your wife entered US in 12/2000 on H4. this H4/I-94 has expiry for 4/2001.
2) you applied for your H1 extension AND also your wife\'s H4 extension.
3) your wife applied for H1 adjustment of status through a company.
4) both of you got respective extensions. so your wife is on H4 again till another 3 years, I guess.
5) your wife got H1.

make sure your wife was "In Status" on every single day while she was in the US. prepare a detailed event list like above and see. Statistics show that most Status violation for H4 occurs during primary H1 extension as people forget to file for H4 extension along with H1. but in your case, that might not be applicable. Just do your homework.
 
What makes us relinquish one?

Thanks for your detailed answer but I a few more questions...

I have confirmed that she was never out of status.

1) Does appying for SSN meant that we relinquished the H4? or to be more specific when and how we relinquish one or the other?
2) In column 12 of DS-230 Part I for my wife should I write her occupation as Housewife or what ever her H1 says? If I write H1 won\'t she have to produce paystubs and all at the time of CP interview?
3) For this years tax filing I am having the same doubts as in 2 above for the Spouse\'s occupation column since I will be producing the copy of this form at Consulate.

Thanks for you help in advance,
BladeRunner
 
What do you mean that she was never out of status??

When was the H4 ext approved and when was the H1 approved ...that is critical too?
 
H4 was approved in June, 2001

and H1 was approved in July, 2001. And since her H1 was applied before her H4 stamp in her passport was expiring I am thinking she didn\'t go out of status.

And as I mentioned above she never actually worked and drew any kind of compensation. But we applied for her SSN in Dec, 2001 as a project was expected but which actually materialized.

Now we are thinking what is her current status H1 or H4? and what should I write in DS-230 and IRS 1040.

Thanks for your help,
BladeRunner.
 
CP - Interview Date

I got an Interview date and Now I want to postpone it. Is it possible? if yes, then what is the procedure? is it harmful?
 
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